OVER the holiday season, Ayala Malls Abreeza’s Christmas tree stood with a drop box nearby which invited shoppers to drop their Christmas wishes.
Shoppers gamely wrote down their hearts’ desires and added them to the ever-growing pile in the “wishing box.”
Little did they know that the staff of Ayala Malls Abreeza intended on playing Santa by going through their wishes one-by-one to grant the wishes that stood out from the rest.
One of the lucky wishers was Merla Silva, Grade 1 teacher and reading coordinator of Digos City Central Elementary School, who wished for children’s books for her school’s reading center.
The Ayala Malls Abreeza Marketing team was impressed by her selfless desire — Christmas is a time of giving, after all! — so the team drove to Digos to grant her wish, with children’s books and a feast for the students in tow.
Sure enough, the kids were thrilled with the surprise, but none more so than Teacher Merla. She has been teaching for 23 years now, and over the course of her teaching career, has made reading education her personal advocacy.
Her stint as the school’s reading coordinator saw the launch of a reading center, since there was no space in the school for an actual library, she supervised the transformation of a small, simple nook under a staircase into a brightly painted, welcoming spot where students could discover the joys of reading.
Teacher Merla admits that she did not expect Ayala Malls Abreeza to pay attention to, much less grant, the wish she had written down. But now that her wish has become a reality, she is hopeful that the new books will encourage more students to read, because as she says, “Nasa pagbasa ang pag-asa.”
For inquiries and updates on Ayala Malls Abreeza news and events, please visit the Main Concierge at the ground floor or call (082) 321-9332. Stay updated by liking www.facebook.com/AbreezaMall and following @abreezatweets on Twitter and @iloveabreezamall on Instagram. (PR)